Secretary Michelle Branham on Why Now Is a Moment of Hope for Alzheimer’s Policy

Secretary Michelle Branham has spent 20 years working on Alzheimer’s policy, first at the Alzheimer’s Association and now leading Florida’s Department of Elder Affairs. 

In this episode, she explains what Florida’s Dementia Action Plan does differently, why earlier diagnosis can actually save families money, and why she believes cognitive screening should become as routine as checking your cholesterol.

In This Episode:

Your Host: Emily Kaplan

Our Guest:

Secretary Michelle Branham, Secretary of the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and former Vice President of Public Policy for the Alzheimer’s Association

This Episode Explores:

• What’s fueling new hope in Alzheimer’s diagnosis and treatment right now?
• Why can early diagnosis actually save families money?
• How does Florida’s Dementia Action Plan support patients and caregivers?
• What would a baseline cognitive screening look like?
• Why do policymakers call this a critical moment for Alzheimer’s care?

What’s Changing in Alzheimer’s Diagnosis and Treatment

Secretary Branham says the Alzheimer’s conversation has changed dramatically since she started in the field 20 years ago. Diagnosing the disease early used to feel frightening because there was nothing to offer a patient afterward. 

Now, she says, there’s real infrastructure to support a diagnosis: monoclonal antibody treatments that work well when caught early, an FDA-approved blood test, and what she calls a “very robust” research pipeline.

Branham compares this moment to where cancer care stood before mammograms became routine. The tools to diagnose and screen earlier already exist. What’s still missing, in her view, is the system built around their use.

What Can Early Diagnosis Save in Healthcare Costs?

Florida is home to nearly 600,000 people living with Alzheimer’s — and about 1.3 million unpaid caregivers. Secretary Branham says the state’s Dementia Action Plan, including its Florida Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence (FACE), grew out of a hard budget reality: memory care can run $90,000 to $150,000 a year per patient, and Medicare or Medicaid usually covers that cost.

Branham’s team has found that helping someone stay safely at home for even one additional year, supported by better care planning and caregiver training, is both more humane and significantly less expensive for the system. “Who wouldn’t want five more years with your children or your grandchildren?” she asks.

Why Baseline Cognitive Screening Could Become Standard Practice

Secretary Branham wants cognitive screening to become as routine as checking cholesterol or blood pressure, starting as early as someone’s 30s or 40s. She points to Florida’s Edenmore grant program, which funds root-cause and lifestyle-intervention research, along with findings from the U.S. POINTER study on what people can do to lower their own risk.

She’s also pushing federal regulators to cover blood-based Alzheimer’s testing before symptoms appear, arguing it would fuel more clinical trials and catch more patients while treatment can still help. With a U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services publicly prioritizing Alzheimer’s, Branham calls this a rare alignment of momentum she doesn’t want to waste.

Watch the full episode to hear why Secretary Branham calls this moment in Alzheimer’s care one the country can’t afford to waste.

Key Topics and Questions From Today’s Show

What is Florida’s Dementia Action Plan?

Florida’s Dementia Action Plan is a statewide strategy, created under Governor Ron DeSantis, that coordinates diagnosis, caregiver support, and research funding for Alzheimer’s and related dementias. Secretary Branham’s Department of Elder Affairs oversees the plan, including its centerpiece program, the Florida Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence (FACE).

What is the Florida Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence (FACE)?

FACE is the only program of its kind housed inside a state unit on aging in the country. It connects families with care navigators and helps coordinate diagnosis, treatment, and caregiver resources across Florida.

How much does memory care cost per year?

Memory care in Florida, and nationally, can cost between $90,000 and $150,000 per patient per year, according to Secretary Branham. Most families rely on Medicare or Medicaid to cover that cost, which is part of why keeping patients safely at home longer matters so much to state budgets.

What are monoclonal antibody treatments for Alzheimer’s?

Two FDA-approved monoclonal antibody drugs, lecanemab (Leqembi) and donanemab (Kisunla), treat people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s who have confirmed amyloid buildup in the brain. In clinical trials, lecanemab slowed cognitive decline by about 27 percent over 18 months compared to a placebo (Yale Medicine).

What is the U.S. POINTER study?

The U.S. POINTER study, published in JAMA in July 2025, followed more than 2,100 older adults at risk of cognitive decline for two years. Participants who followed a structured lifestyle program, combining exercise, nutrition changes, cognitive challenges, and social engagement, showed greater improvement in global cognition than those in a self-guided program (Alzheimer’s Association).